A Bitter Man, Soured on Beer and Given to Claims
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Thu, Dec. 31st, 2009, 12:58 pm
September 1, 1939 by W. H. Auden
I sit in one of the dives On Fifty-second Street Uncertain and afraid As the clever hopes expire Of a low dishonest decade: Waves of anger and fear Circulate over the bright And darkened lands of the earth, Obsessing our private lives; The unmentionable odour of death Offends the September night.
Accurate scholarship can Unearth the whole offence From Luther until now That has driven a culture mad, Find what occurred at Linz, What huge imago made A psychopathic god: I and the public know What all schoolchildren learn, Those to whom evil is done Do evil in return.
Exiled Thucydides knew All that a speech can say About Democracy, And what dictators do, The elderly rubbish they talk To an apathetic grave; Analysed all in his book, The enlightenment driven away, The habit-forming pain, Mismanagement and grief: We must suffer them all again.
Into this neutral air Where blind skyscrapers use Their full height to proclaim The strength of Collective Man, Each language pours its vain Competitive excuse: But who can live for long In an euphoric dream; Out of the mirror they stare, Imperialism's face And the international wrong.
Faces along the bar Cling to their average day: The lights must never go out, The music must always play, All the conventions conspire To make this fort assume The furniture of home; Lest we should see where we are, Lost in a haunted wood, Children afraid of the night Who have never been happy or good.
The windiest militant trash Important Persons shout Is not so crude as our wish: What mad Nijinsky wrote About Diaghilev Is true of the normal heart; For the error bred in the bone Of each woman and each man Craves what it cannot have, Not universal love But to be loved alone.
From the conservative dark Into the ethical life The dense commuters come, Repeating their morning vow; "I will be true to the wife, I'll concentrate more on my work," And helpless governors wake To resume their compulsory game: Who can release them now, Who can reach the deaf, Who can speak for the dumb?
All I have is a voice To undo the folded lie, The romantic lie in the brain Of the sensual man-in-the-street And the lie of Authority Whose buildings grope the sky: There is no such thing as the State And no one exists alone; Hunger allows no choice To the citizen or the police; We must love one another or die.
Defenceless under the night Our world in stupor lies; Yet, dotted everywhere, Ironic points of light Flash out wherever the Just Exchange their messages: May I, composed like them Of Eros and of dust, Beleaguered by the same Negation and despair, Show an affirming flame. Mon, Aug. 17th, 2009, 12:43 am
Haven't posted in a while.
Nothing new to report.
Your result for The 3 Variable Funny Test... the Wit your humor style: CLEAN | COMPLEX | DARKYou like things edgy, subtle, and smart. I guess that means you're probably an intellectual, but don't take that to mean pretentious. You realize 'dumb' can be witty--after all isn't that the Simpsons' philosophy?--but rudeness for its own sake, 'gross-out' humor and most other things found in a fraternity leave you totally flat. I guess you just have a more cerebral approach than most. You have the perfect mindset for a joke writer or staff writer. Your sense of humor takes the most thought to appreciate, but it's also the best, in my opinion. You probably loved the Office. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check it out here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/theoffice/. PEOPLE LIKE YOU: Jon Stewart - Woody Allen - Ricky Gervais

The 3-Variable Funny Test! - it rules -
Take The 3 Variable Funny Test at HelloQuizzy
Your result for The Character Actor Recognition Test... The Ultimate Recognizer! Wow, what can I say? If you got this result then you truly excel at recognizing character actors. I mean, really, even I had to do a few double-checks to make sure that I knew their names correctly. If you managed to do this without any cheating then I would take my hat off to you if I was to wear one! You're probably like me and get a bit too much fun out of spotting character actors and knowing who they are precisely and you could probably pick a few who were in the same film/TV show together at some point. But I happen to think that's awesome. In recognition of your recognitions I present to you none other than Danny Trejo! I'm pretty sure that Robert Rodriguez has him on speed-dial for whenever he needs a badass Mexican character, and Danny certainly is one! Anyway, thanks for taking this test and feel free to give any suggestions or corrections so that I may improve it. I know that I left a few actors out that could have really suited this test whether as a question or even within the results sections. Whatever the case I'd love to hear from you! Take The Character Actor Recognition Test at HelloQuizzy
Sun, May. 10th, 2009, 11:40 pm
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